Toilet seat retainer

ABSTRACT

A device readily attached to toilets without tools or special skills to frictionally engage the transverse rear edge of a toilet seat and retain it open when it otherwise would fall down as a result, for example, of the presence of a thick, decorative cover on the toilet lid.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,828,395 Grady 1 Aug. 13, 1974 TOILETSEAT RETAINER 2,083,140 6/1937 Brantingson... 16/140 2,535,789 12 1950 DB 11 16 191' [751 Invent: Mlchae' Grady Annapdls, 2,768,571 10/1956Pzarsin 161 140 z A 3,178,762 4/1965 Whiting 16/140 [73] Asslgnee g gfifi f g sg g i g 3,391,420 7/1968 Anderson... 16/ 139 3,615,035 8/1969Newton l6/DIG. 13 [22] Filed: Aug. 16, 1972 211 App], 231,147 PrimaryExaminer-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant Examiner-Kenneth J. Dorner At A P [52] US. (:1 16/137, 4/236,16/140 21232, & igfg Scmene' [51] Int. Cl. E05d 11/08, A47k 13/24 [58]Field of Search 16/137, 138, 139, 140, [57] ABSTRACT 0 13; 4/236 240;24/73 VA A device readily attached to toilets without tools or i specialskills to frictionally engage the transverse rear [56] References Citededge of a toilet seat and retain it open when it other- UNITED STATESPATENTS wise would fall down as a result, for example, of the 452,6855/1891 Webster.. 4/236 presence of a thick, decorative cover on thetoilet lid. 689,201 12/1901 Koester 16/191 2,005,841 6/1935 Kulp et al.24/73 VA 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures TOILET SEAT RETAINER This inventionrelates to toilet seats and more particularly to means for releasablyretaining a toilet seat in raised position.

The majority of home toilets include a lid and a seat with these twobeing hinged on a common axis at the rear of the toilet bowl. The hingeis so arranged that when the lid and seat are raised to open positionboth are capable of passing slightly past vertical so that they may restin open position against the flush water tank positioned to the rear andabove the toilet bowl.

This arrangement is satisfactory except that it has become thewidespread practice to encase the lid in a decorative cloth cover whichis usually quite thick. Though the cover allows the lid to be raised toa position where it remains open, the space needed for the seat to movepast vertical is often taken up by the'cover material so that it isimpossible to retain the seat in raised position in the usual way andone must hold it open with a hand or leg which is awkward and oftenembarrassing.

The broad object of the present invention is to provide a device whichmay be sold separately in hardware stores and the like and may bereadily releasably fastened to the rear of a toilet in -'a positionwhere it can be frictionally engaged by the seat to retain it in openposition after it has been moved thereto.

The invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a broken top plan view showing one type of toilet seat hingecommonly in use with-one embodiment of the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2, is a broken vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially onthe line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2 except showing the lid andseat in raised position;

FIG. 4 isa cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a broken top plan view showing another type of hingearrangement in common use, with a second embodiment of the presentinventionyand FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view taken substantiallyon the line 6-6 of FIG. 5, but showing the seat portion in raisedposition.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof,the toilet seat hinge arrangement shown there is in widespread use andcomprises a transverse shaft 10, each end of which extends through abearing opening in the annular upper end 11 of a bracket 12 extendingforwardly from an integral base 14 carrying a threaded rod 16 whichextends downwardly through an opening in a flange at the rear of thetoilet bowl 17 to receive at its lower end a nut (not shown) whereby thebracket is securely fixed to the bowl.

Pivotally carried on the shaft on opposite sides of the annular upperend 11 of the bracket 12 are a pair of hinge members 18, 20, each havinga respective forwardly extending leaf part 22, 24 screwed to theunderside of the toilet lid 26 and toilet seat 28, respectively. Thetoilet seat has a straight transverse lower rear edge 30 which is joinedto the upper part of the seat by a smooth arcuate profile 32. As can beseen in FIG. 3 the lid 26 may be raised independently of the seat 28 toa vertical position and when in this position, or slightly pastvertical, the lid remains in raised position against the toilet tank(not shown), it being noted that when vertical, the center of gravity ofthe lid acts rearwardly of the axis of the shaft 10 so that the lidtends to fall counter clockwise to the left or to its open position inthe drawing. In short, the lid can even lean slightly to the right inthe drawings, that is to say, toward the closed position and because ofthe hinge arrangement, the lid still tends to fall to the left so thatthere is seldom any problem in retaining the lid open even when it isprovided with a quite thick decorative cover.

.On the other hand, the hinge arrangement for the seat is such that thecenter of gravity of the seat when it is in a vertical position actsvery nearly directly over the axis of the shaft as can be clearly seenin FIG. 3. Consequently, in order for-the seat to remain vertical, theremust be a finite space at 33 between the raised lid and seat in order topermit the seat in open position to move at least slightly past thevertical if theseat is to remain open merely by resting against the openlid. Obviously, if this space has been taken up due to the covermaterial intervening between the tank and the lid, the seat simplycannot remain in raised position and will invariably fall back to closedposition by gravity unless separate means are provided for retaining itopen. Prior to the present invention, except for, expensive frictionhinges, the only means for retaining the seat open have consisted of thehand or leg of the user which is most unsatisfactory.

The present invention overcomes the foregoing problem by the provisionof a simple snap-on member which may be inserted over the bracket part12 of the hinge member which is bolted to the toilet bowl. In accordancewith the invention, the snap-on member presents a friction surface whichspirals into or converges with the arcuate path described by the rearedge of the seat as it is moved from its lowered to its raised position.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the snap-on unitcomprises a molded plastic member 40 of nylon or the like having a rearpart 42 provided with a pair of side flanges 44 which are preferablybiassed towards each other but may be spread apart by the action ofpushing the unit downwardly against the bracket 12 until the inner faceof the rear part 42 engages the back of the bracket whereupon the sideflanges conform with the configuration of the sides of the bracket.These may be slightly recessed even though the bracket in horizontalcross-section is almost universally of a somewhat wedged configurationas shown in FIG. 4.

Extending forwardly of the rear part and side flanges of the device is ahooked part 46 which snaps over the annular upper end 11 of the bracketcontaining the bearing opening for the shaft 10. As can be seen, thefree end of the hooked part 46 encompasses slightly more than of theannular part 11 of the bracket so that the device is firmly anchored inposition by the combined action of the hook part and the side flaps 44.

The upper surface 47 of the hook part unit is molded in a shallow spiralpresenting a face which converges with the path described by the rearedge of the back of the seat as it is moved to its raised position. Whenthe seat is fully raised, it engages the unit with maximum frictionalforce with this being sufficient toprevent the seat from returning toits lower position by gravity alone. Because the friction force requiredto retain the seat in raised condition is in factquite small, only veryslight effort is required by the user to return the seat to its loweredposition.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the adaptation of the concept of the inventionto another type of hinged lid and seat which is also in widespread use.In this type, the seat 50 has an integral rearwardly extendingtransverse projection 52 pivotally mounted on a hinge pin 54 whichextends through the projection as clearly seen in FIG. 5. The ends ofthe pin are supported on brackets 56 bolted to the toilet bowl 58 in theusual manner and pivotally mounted on the pin 54 between the brackets 56and the side faces on the projection 52 are limbs of L-shaped hingemembers 60 whose other limbs are screwed to the inner face of the toiletlid 61 which is shown in open position in FIG. 5.

The means for retaining open the seat of the type shown in FIGS. 5 and.6comprises a member 62 of molded plastic or the like which is preferablyrectangular in plan as shown in FIG. 5 and equipped on its lower facewith two or more suction cups 64 for securely fixing the member to theupper face of the toilet bowl S8. The upper part 66 of the member 62 isof block-like form and consists of rubber or plastic material whose rearface 67 is profiled on a substantially spiraled or arcuate line adaptedto converge with and extend into the path described by the rear edge ofthe seat projection as the seat is raised from its lowered to its openposition of FIG. 6. Desirably, the arcuate or spiraled face 67 isprovided with a plurality of transversely extending ribs or serrations68 which positively engage with the lower rear edge 70 of the seat toprovide it with sufficient support when in its raised position toprevent the seat from falling down by gravity.

In lieu of or in combination with the suction cups, the embodiment ofthe invention of FIGS. 5 and 6 could be provided with a pair ofrearwardly extending hooks capable of snapping over or otherwiseengaging the upstanding parts of the respective brackets 56 below thehinge pin 52. Any other fastening means which cooperate with thebrackets or the rear of the toilet bowl should be considered within thepurview of the invention.

The manner of use of the devices of the invention should be apparentfrom the foregoing description. The unit of FIGS. 1 through 4 woulddesirably be sold in pairs if the home owner has the type of seat hingeto which the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4 is especially adapted. Ifthe home owner has the type of hinge illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, thennaturally he would select that particular variety. In either case, theembodiment of the invention solves an annoying problem in modern dayhomes at a minimum of expense and requires that no part of the existingtoilet be disturbed, that is, dismantled or rearranged, and that noskill or tools are needed to install the device.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention issusceptible of a wide variety of modifications and changes withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of appended claims.

I claim:

1. For use on a conventional toilet for retaining its seat in raisedposition, the invention which comprises a body of resilientmouldedmaterial, means carried by said body for detachably mounting the same toa toilet in a fixed position adjacent the transverse rear edge of thetoilet seat, said mounting means being constructed and arranged toenable said body to be engaged in its position of use with a part ofsaid toilet without disturbing said part, said body having an uppertransversely extending face which is profiled on a substantiallyspiraled line such that when said body is mounted in its position of usesaid face converges with the path described by the rear edge of the seatas it is moved to its substantially vertical position, said faceextending into said path as said seat approaches its vertical positionfor wedging engagement by said rear edge with a force which retains saidseat in its substantially vertical position after it has been movedthereto.

2. The toilet seat retainer of claim 1 wherein said body includes anupper part and wherein the means for detachably fastening said body to atoilet comprises a pair of transversely spaced side parts and aforwardly extending hook part integral with said upper part, the innersides of said parts defining a space complementary in shape with atoilet seat hinge bracket so that the body member may be snappedthereover, said profiled face comprising an upwardly facing outersurface of said upper part shaped to spiral upwardly and rearwardly andconverge outwardly into the path of the rear edge of said seat forengagement thereby when said body member is mounted in its position ofuse and said seat is in its substantially vertical position.

3. The toilet seat retainer of claim 1 wherein said body comprises ablock-like member, said fastening means including means for detachablyfixing said block-like member on a toilet bowl between the hingebrackets for said seat, said profiled face comprising a rearwardly andupwardly facing, transversely extending arcuate surface onsaidblock-like member, said surface being shaped for wedging engagementby the rear edge of a toilet seat when said body is fixed in itsposition of use and said seat is in its substantially verticalposition.-

4. The retainer of claim 3 wherein said detachable fastening meanscomprises suction cups attached to the underside of said block-like bodymember.

5. The retainer of claim 3 including transverse ribs on the arcuate faceof the block-like member.

1. For use on a conventional toilet for retaining its seat in raisedposition, the invention which comprises a body of resilient mouldedmaterial, means carried by said body for detachably mounting the same toa toilet in a fixed position adjacent the transverse rear edge of thetoilet seat, said mounting means being constructed and arranged toenable said body to be engaged in its position of use with a part ofsaid toilet without disturbing said part, said body having an uppertransversely extending face which is profiled on a substantiallyspiraled line such that when said body is mounted in its position of usesaid face converges with the path described by the rear edge of the seatas it is moved to its substantially vertical position, said faceextending into said path as said seat approaches its vertical positionfor wedging engagement by said rear edge with a force which retains saidseat in its substantially vertical position after it has been movedthereto.
 2. The toilet seat retainer of claim 1 whereiN said bodyincludes an upper part and wherein the means for detachably fasteningsaid body to a toilet comprises a pair of transversely spaced side partsand a forwardly extending hook part integral with said upper part, theinner sides of said parts defining a space complementary in shape with atoilet seat hinge bracket so that the body member may be snappedthereover, said profiled face comprising an upwardly facing outersurface of said upper part shaped to spiral upwardly and rearwardly andconverge outwardly into the path of the rear edge of said seat forengagement thereby when said body member is mounted in its position ofuse and said seat is in its substantially vertical position.
 3. Thetoilet seat retainer of claim 1 wherein said body comprises a block-likemember, said fastening means including means for detachably fixing saidblock-like member on a toilet bowl between the hinge brackets for saidseat, said profiled face comprising a rearwardly and upwardly facing,transversely extending arcuate surface on said block-like member, saidsurface being shaped for wedging engagement by the rear edge of a toiletseat when said body is fixed in its position of use and said seat is inits substantially vertical position.
 4. The retainer of claim 3 whereinsaid detachable fastening means comprises suction cups attached to theunderside of said block-like body member.
 5. The retainer of claim 3including transverse ribs on the arcuate face of the block-like member.